Open AcceResearch

Background: Osteosarcoma is a highly malignant bone tumor and is the most commonly encountered malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. Furthermore, significant numbers of patients eventually develop pulmonary metastases and succumb to the disease even after conventional multi-agent chemotherapy and surgical excision. Several solid tumors display enhanced expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and recently clinical trials have been initiated on MMP-inhibitors. On the other hand, bisphosphonates (BPs), which have a profound effect on bone resorption, are widely used to treat osteoclast-mediated bone diseases. BPs are also known to inhibit tumor growths and metastases in some tumors such as breast cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and prostate cancer. Methods: Two osteosarcoma cell lines (SaOS-2 and U2OS) were treated with risedronate (0, 0.1, 1, 10 μM) for 48 hours. Cell viabilities were determined using MTT assay, the mRNA levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were analyzed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, the amount of MMP-2 and MMP-9 protein were analyzed by Westernblot, the activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were observed by Gelatin zymography, and Matrigel invasion assays were used to investigate th